Start of the Journey

Clair POV:

The four years I needed to finish school are over and a lot of things happened.

I ate human meat, which tasted quite good, finished the founding of Aeron and put Kyli on the throne and my foster parents moved into a village near Nahar. Mom even got pregnant, she probably will give birth during our trip to the empire.

I gave her a magic device for contacting me when it happens.

The school finals were anticlimactic, juts boring tests one magic and one theoretical.

The party afterward was okay, the food was good and the music was normal medieval stuff.

There were a few nobles and companies that tried to employ me and the others and most accepted.

Well, now I have a certificate of finishing the Turon Magic Academy with the best grades. I think this is to be expected if I want to play god or something akin. I mean wouldn't it be embarrassing to not even have finished school for a ruler?

A lot of the graduates of this year are also immigrating to Aeron, Pia, Kira and Lina are three of them. They get government positions, become guards or start their own shop.

I even convinced some of my teachers to teach at the magic academy of Aeron. Which is also called Aeron, I know my naming sense is horrible but I thought of continuing the tradition. Turon has Turonis Malindor has Mardor and so on. A clone plays the headmaster, I had to rank it up to the SS-Rank. Took it six-month to do that.

Currently, I'm inside my living room and wait for Ilza, Drull and Lilia to come down. I asked them to meet me in the afternoon, I want to explain how and where we'll travel.

Both Ilza and Lilia got way stronger in these four years, stat wise they are comparable to SS-Rank Adventurers, with runes around Drull. Drull didn't want to get runes, he said he doesn't like to rely on others powers.

"So what do you want to tell us?" Lilia asked as they came in.

"Did something happen?" Ilza asked.

"Should I kill it, master?" Drull asked facetiously. He still likes to play the demon overlord.

"Yeah, I want to speak with you about the traveling route and the means of traveling for our coming round trip, around the world," I said.

"So we're finally going?" Ilza asked.

I nodded and said, "yes, look I found a map of the world, I forgot that it's called Solantis."

What does it mean?" Lilia asked.

"It's Kirika for earth," I said and unfolded the map.

http://www.directupload.net/file/d/4121/w4fz6mmb_png.htm

"Currently, we're in Turon and I have an appointment with the empress of Raska in Lichtstadt, their capital, after the tournament. This will be in around six months. We'll have two months until the tournament and four for the way to the empress," I said.

"Max said we will go back with them, didn't he?" Lilia asked.

"Yes, but I think we should go on our own, this way we can go on side roads and enjoy the scenery. And don't have to sit in a coach," I answered.

"Where is the final destination?" Drull asked.

"First we'll go to Mardor and tell Max that we will move on our own and then go to Raska. Once there we will meet the empress and then make a sightseeing tour, I'd like to see the temple of Siria," I said.

"And then?" Ilza asked.

"I want to see Schwarzwald and then Eisenberge. From there on maybe up to the north, over the mountains to Duren, where we'll move eastwards until we reach the sea and then south through Tongva. The end will be when we reach the border to Aeron. Where we will rest for a year or more and then explore the islands under Tragon," I said and explained my plans.

"Islands under Tragon? Isn't there only the stormy sea?" Drull asked.

"Nope, there are a few islands," I said and marked some circles on the southern see of the map.

"How long do you think we'll need?" Lilia asked.

"Hmm, depends on our way of travel. If I fly, at the highest speed, only a day, without the sightseeing. But I thought of using bikes, Maybe a few years, I don't really know," I answered.

"What are bikes?" Ilza asked.

"These are bikes," I said and took four off-road, long ride bikes out of my inventory.

"I made them out of orichalcum, this way they are really sturdy," Me

"And expensive," Lilia.

"It's possible to drive faster than 200 km/h with them. A safe stop or steering is almost impossible at this speed, but they even survive a crash into a wall. Trust me I tested it," I further said.

"And how do you use them?" Lilia asked.

"Easy, you sit on the seat and push the pedals with your feet, the handlebar is for steering," I said and showed them how to ride a bike by driving through the living room.

"Wouldn't high weed and mud hinder the wheels?" Drull asked.

"They would, but I plan to conjure a sand way in front of us whenever we come across impassable terrain," I answered.

"So basically, we'll make a sightseeing round trip? Any spots you've already planned?" Drull said.

"Yes, I read in "Guide through Solantis" that the capital of the elfen and dwarfen are pretty. I want to see them, then maybe the "Hell Dungeon" just for fun and nature in itself. For that, we're going to rank up in the adventurer guild. But not in the guild of Turon. Too many know us here, we're going to leave in the night and clones will stay back, mimicking our normal life," I said.

"Sounds good, then when will we leave?" Lilia asked.

"Tomorrow, after I gave Gerd his sword," I said.

"Okay, I'll get ready then," Lilia said.

"What kind of sword do you want to give him?" Ilza asked.

"I thought about a Rank-5 sword with a wind spirit inside of it, I already fed it with a lot of mana and it should be fairly strong," I answered.

"Isn't such a sword too powerful for him?" Lilia asked.

"Why? He taught Ilza as he said and she got quite good with the sword," I said.

"Do what you want. I'll go pack my things," Lilia said and left.

"Master, I'll also go prepare for the trip," Drull said and left right behind Lilia.

I looked at Ilza who looked back at me.

"Pool?" I asked she grinned and we began to play pool.

Gerd came the next morning and even had a sad expression as he came in.

"Morning Gerd, what happened?" Renè asked as she let him in.

"This will be the last day I will come, the last four years were really interesting, with Clair`s explanations and all the funny things she did," he said and slowly walked into the kitchen and plopped down at one of the chairs.

"What's up?" I asked.

"I just realized how much fun I had with the training of Ilza and speaking with you," he said.

"And?" I asked.

"And I know that my employment ends today, so I won't be able to come here like I did before," he continued.

"You are allowed to come," I said and he looked up, in disbelieve.

"What? You're a friend, so it's obvious that you can come," I said.

"But I'm also Ilza's trainer," he said.

"So? From now on you're one of our friends. And before I forget, here is your new sword," I said and gave him the Rank-5 wind elemental sword.

He inspected it and his eyes grew rounder and rounder with each passing second.

"This...this is a Rank-5 sword!" He exclaimed.

"Yes, it is. Jurr this is Gerd, your new master," I said nonchalantly.

"Good day new master, my name is Jurr. I was forged by Clair and are a Rank-5 wind elemental sword. My creator has already given me high amounts of wind mana. The amount is equal to 100.000 years of normal absorbing," a female voice, that came from the sword, said.

"100.000 years?!" Gerd asked in shock.

"Indeed master, I'm ready to slice any opponent you'll meet," Jurr said.

"Clair this sword is...is too powerful for me. It should be in the hands of an SS-Rank adventurer or someone even stronger," Gerd said and tried to give the sword back.

I waved my hand and said, "keep it, I can make more."

He looked at me as if I told him I would eat children, which I really did.

"Are you sure?" He finally asked.

"I am. And one more thing, Drull, Ilza, Lilia and I will go on a journey and won't come back for a few years. But doubles will stay here and act like we would still live here," I said.

"Doubles?" Gerd asked. I snapped my fingers and the clones, who already changed form came inside.

"Who are they? They look identical to you," Gerd said.

"Magic," I simply said.

"So, when do you want to go?" Gerd asked after inspecting the clones.

"This night," I said.

"That's soon," He said.

"Yep, so let's eat and have a nice day," I said and we made the breakfast into a brunch and then into lunch.

Late at the dark, eerie night, with a clouded moon, four people clad in...normal clothes walked through the gate and soon drove on strange looking vehicles towards Mardor.

With a mostly average speed of 60 km/h, we were way faster than needed and had time to explore the interesting things we saw throughout our trip to Mardor. At night I build a stone house and let it stay when we left, maybe someone will need it at a later time.

We came across small creeks and beautiful looking ponds, have seen animals that were living their life and even got attacked by some monster, who were killed by Ilza and Lilia. Both of them are still training. I also had a new weapon but I'll tell more at a later time.

The first villages, that were near the border to Aeron, were mostly deserted and only things that couldn't be transported were left.

But the nearer we came to Mardor the more people we saw, most of them lived their daily life and tried to get enough food for the next day or month. Most farmers were not able to have a stable life and couldn't plan for the future.

We also came through cities, like the one we visited four years ago. Lilia and I tried to find the young woman whom I gave the two bras but her shop was now a shoe shop. We asked the seller about the last owner and it seems like she moved into the nobles district after selling her new clothes. So we looked for her and found her in a bigger and better-looking shop, right at the shop street of the nobles district.

She was delighted to see us again and invited us to dinner, which we accepted. The food was good and this time, Lilia wasn't kidnapped.

We stayed three days in that city and ate through the best restaurants it had. I'm constantly searching for new kinds of chicken dishes.

We continued our trip and finally after almost two month it happened, the one thing every adventure have to have a bandit raid. Okay, it wasn't really a bandit raid, normally we're too fast for anything that hasn't stats in the three thousands.

We simply drove right into their hideout. It was in the middle of an old and large forest with high trees and small villages and cities around it. Near a small cliff with a cave inside of it. They've built a palisade of wood around it with some watch towers. My map says that there are 50 bandits and 10 slaves.

"Alarm!"One of the guards shouted as they saw us coming and run inside, leaving the entrance completely unguarded.

We noticed them a few hundred meters ago and simply walked up to them. Ilza thought they're just some people who were living in the woods, but identification said that they had the occupation [Bandit].

"They might think we're the bandits," Ilza tried to argue.

"Nope, those guys are bandits and most likely will attack us the moment they grouped up," Drull said with a smirk.

"Ah come on, at least, I have hope," Ilza said.

"Yeah, hopes dies last, but still dies," I said and changed into Reaper Dex.

"I still don't get why you're changing into this guy, whenever we're going to fight. The mask is creeping me out," Lilia said and took her Wand out of the dimensional pocket she has.

Each of them got one after I learned how to recreate them. They are just rings with enchantments for dimension, room, and a number. Everyone with [Enchanting] on LV 5 could make them but he need to know the [Language of Kirika] which is a dead language. It's the same with the recreation fields, they are just LV 8 runes that say "If dead return back to the state of stepping inside the field". We're only selling it as an LV 10 rune because no one known has such an LV, it's possible to learn a language but not so easy to learn the skill.

"Because I don't want to look like Clair when I kill and I like this outfit. Especially the mask, which is absolutely not creepy," I said.

°PFFT° It sounded from one of the watchtowers and an arrow flew straight at Ilza, which I blocked with a shield, I took out of the inventory.

Skill:

Shield

This skill will you help to protect you or something nearby. But it won't protect you from STD or HIV, it's not this kind of skill. LV: 0

"And your new way of fighting is just...stupid," she continued.

"Why?" I asked and looked at my arms. A shield was on each arm, no weapons in my hands.

The shields were as large as bucklers and had a sharp tip, on the side that was near my hands.

"Who in their right mind would use a shield as his main weapon?" She asked.

"I once played a game in which it was possible," I said and looked at the now forming wall of bandits.

There were three lines, one had tower shields, one spear and the last one bows.

A tall, bulky man stood behind them. He looked like the leader and fulfilled my expectations by saying,

"I'm Rodrigues the Bloody, thank you for stepping in our hideout, we'll enjoy the women you've brought."

"Boss, the third girl vanished," the guard, who's now standing in the second line said.

"Must have hid, you've said she looked like a child," he said with a wicked smile.

"My friend here," I said and pointed at Ilza," thinks that you aren't bandits. I disagree with her, so could you elaborate us?"

"Are you stupid? Who else would speak about raping women?" He shouted irritated.

"I don't know rapist?" I asked, but it only made him more irritated.

"Of course, we are bandits," he shouted.

"Look, hope still dies," I said and patted Ilzas head.

"Is he mocking me?" He asked his nearby companions.

"Hey, bandit leader!" I shouted.

"What?" He loudly asked back.

"Would you be so kind and quickly die? We want to continue our travel," I said and began to walk in the direction of their formation while maxing the skill.

"Make him into a pin-cushion," the leader shouted and 10 arrows at once flew at me.

I intercepted the arrows with my two shields, faster than they could see.

"Da fuck?" The leader asked.

"Let some of them for me," Ilza said and run past me. Her sword raised above her head. She has a sword that will get stronger by killing, so it's currently not as strong as the sword I gave Gerd but has high potential.

Lilia began to cast a fire spell and Drull just watched from the back.

The moment Ilza reached the first shield guy, she brought her sword down and cleaved the shield and the guy in two. She turned her sword sideways and sliced right through two who were standing at the left.

The guy to her right side was too stunned to really do something and I got near enough to hit him with my spiked tip of my right shield.

His stomach and stomach of the guy behind him now had a head sized hole. The tip only has a diameter of 0,5 cm but the wind pressure behind the hit made the hole.

"M..monster!" One of them managed to scream and their formation began to crumble.

"Stupid maggots, fight them or it is not them who's killing you but me!" The leader screamed and broke the neck of a fleeing bandit.

This made them spirited. However Lilia`s spell finished and a beam of fiery light shot out of her finger, melting through the three lines like a hot knife through butter. She then moved her finger to the right and killed every other bandit that in the way of her beam. She even set the palisade aflame.

The bandit leader had a look of fear on his face but still tried to attack me, sadly he was instantly killed by Ilza, she came from above and pierced her blade through his skull.

In the time I needed to look at Lilia`s magic she killed the bandits at the right side, she must have used a rune. With them, she can shoot wind cuts by slicing the air in front of her.

"Well, that was anticlimactic. I had no real chance at testing my shields," I said in a disappointed tone and changed back to Clair.

"What now?" Ilza asked.

"We look at the slaves and ask them if they want to live in Aeron," I said and walked to the cave, where we found 10 female slaves. Most of them had some wounds but nothing too serious. It seems like they were held here for not more than a month, still they got some trauma and will most likely don't let a men near them.

I healed them and asked them if they want to live in Aeron. At first, they couldn't really believe that they're rescued but after an hour, they said yes and a clone brought them to Aeron, where they will get psychological help and be integrated into the society.

After that, we continued our way and reached Mardor, where we met Max in a pre-arranged inn.

"Hi Max," I said as I saw him sitting at a table with a few of his teammates.

"Ah, Clair, good to see you and?" He said.

"These are Lilia, Ilza and Drull," I introduced them.

"Nice to meet you," Max said.

"Hi," they simply said.

"The tournament will continue for four more days," Max said.

"About that, we're going to travel on our own. I like to go on my pace and you'll be just too slow," I said.

"But," Max began, however, I interrupted him and said,

"No but, tell your empress we're going on our own and will pop up inside her castle in the near four months," I said.

"She's still too much for you," one of his teammates said and the others began to laugh.

"You can't just do that, she has appointments and other important things," he said.

"So? I know that you're able to transmit information so tell her I'll come on my own," I said and left. Max, who opened and closed his mouth stood just there, getting laughed at by his friends.

We continued our way of travel and suddenly at night, two months later, I got a call from the clone that is watching over mom.

"Origin? Mom's water broke, she gets her child," the clone said.

"I'll be there in a few minutes, is the midwife already there?" I said hurriedly.

"Yes, she is," the clone said.

"Good, tell them I'll be there in a few minutes," I said and turned the device off.

"Lilia?" I asked and looked at the woken Lilia.

"What happened?" She asked.

"Mom gets her child, I'll be back when she delivered it and things settled down, move without me," I said and rushed out of the house.

I jumped up and let my wings sprout. After that, I flew at such a high speed towards mom that the nearby trees got uprooted.

10 minutes later I was only 10 kilometer away from their village and slowed down so that I won't destroy the surroundings when I land.

I rushed into the house, grabbed a worried dad and arrived near a mom who was sitting on the bed. The midwife who's caring about mom since a month was near her and prepared for the delivery.

"Hi mom," I said.

"Clair, why are you here? I thought you'll be in Raska," she asked back.

"I was, I flew over," I said.

"Flew over? But isn't..°UNGH°," she began but was interrupted mid-sentence by a birth pang.

"Isn't that over 30.000 kilometer away?" She continued after breathing for a few seconds.

"Yeah kinda, I uprooted some trees as I came," I said.

"Why wasn't you at her side?" I asked dad.

"I...I don't know what to do," he said embarrassed.

"Your only job now is to hold your wives hand and let her squeeze it to mush," I said and put his hand in hers.

A few minutes later she got the next birth pang and squeezed it so much that it got white.

"Can I help somehow?" I asked the midwife, who brought towels.

"I need warm water," she said and I conjured warm water into a basket, that I took out of the inventory.

"Here," I said and gave her the basket.

Time passed and the birth pangs got shorter and heavier.

"I think the baby will start to come in a few minutes, the uterus has widened enough," the midwife said and looked up at us.

I really don't know what I can do, so I just constantly healed mom but it didn't change much.

Dad's hands are already purple but he still stands resolute.

"It's coming, push," the midwife said.

°ARGH° mom groaned in pain and I think I really heard dads hand braking.

"A little more," the midwife said and mom did her best. A couple of groans and broken fingers later the midwife said,

"I can see the head, now it has to turn around and then it'll be out."

I really didn't want to see the to the utmost stretched vagina of my mom, so I stood to her other side and let her squeeze my hand.

It took not long and the baby was finally out. It screamed the moment it came out and the midwife wrapped it in a clean towel.

"It's a healthy girl," she said, cut the umbilical cord and gave her to mom.

"She is pretty," dad said with tears in his eyes.

I think she's pretty ugly, every newborn is ugly. Totally wrinkled and red, the head is sometimes deformed. That's because the bones of the skull aren't connected so that they can move and make it easier to get birthed. And bloodied. Newborns are ugly.

"Yes, she is," mom said and kissed the forehead of the baby.

"How do you want to name her?" I asked.

"We thought that you should name her," mom said.

"Why me? It's your child and the first on top of that," I said.

"You're like a child to us, even if you're special. And you made it possible to have her," dad said with a smile, holding his hurting hand.

"I'm not really good with naming...what about Lily?" I said unsurely.

"I think Lily is a good name, what about you?" Dad said and looked at mom.

"I like it," she said and held Lily up.

"From now on you'll be called Lily, we hope you'll have a good and bright life," she said.

"I'll make sure of it," I said.

The afterbirth came twenty minutes later and we could clean up after that. I once again healed mom and dad and then gave them some money and a whole lot of toys for Lily. I gave them a dimensional pocket, full with different toys for all kind of things. Doesn't matter if it's something for boys or girls, Lily will have the opportunity to play with what she likes.

The dimensional pocket also contained diapers, clothes up to the age of 18, a crib and books for night stories and her future learning.

After that, I said goodbye and promised to visit once a month.

But before I flew away I made three more clones near the outskirts of the village.

"You three will stay here, one of you will change into a baby girl, not older than a month, the other two will mimic the parents. Tomorrow you'll arrive in the village and you'll try to get on friendly terms with mom and dad and the baby will grow up with Lily. Protect her from the shadows but don't hinder her growth. Also don't raise suspicion from the others, no one is allowed to behave like me. You're both vegan, am I clear?" I said.

"" Yes Origin "" they said in unison and I departed.